The Mendocino County District Attorney’s office announced on Monday that a defendant scheduled to begin his jury trial after being charged with allegedly sexually penetrating a nine-year-old victim, a felony — failed to appear in court for jury selection that had been scheduled to commence Monday.

With the assistance of Butte County law enforcement, it was subsequently confirmed that Aaron Douglas Burrows, age 51, of the Paradise area, committed suicide in that area sometime Sunday night or early Monday morning, the district attorney’s office said. The Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office had represented Burrows. If convicted, the defendant’s mandatory sentence would have been 15 years to life in state prison and lifetime sex registration.

Assistant District Attorney Dale P. Trigg, the prosecutor who was prepared to present the People’s evidence against the defendant (evidence that was to include testimony from the young victim, as well as testimony from an earlier victim), worked collaboratively with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, the Paradise Police Department, the Butte County District Attorney, and the Mendocino County District Attorney’s own investigators.

Arrangements are now underway for further counseling for the defendant’s two victims.